Review: Theatrical Miracles Abound in RTW's AGNES OF GOD

What designates a miracle in today's world---or in the realm of theological dogma? Artists might claim every time a concert, a dance, a live performance or visual picture appears constitutes a small creative miracle. Renaissance Theaterworks (RTW) presents numerous theatrical miracles in their transcendent production Agnes of God on stage this winter in the Studio Theater.

John Pielmeier's 1982 play was based on an actual incident occurring in 1977 New York when a nun, Maureen Murphy, conceived a child that was born and found dead at the convent. The nun faced a judicial instead of a juried trial for the supposed murder of the baby. In Pielmeier's play, the young postulant Agnes was found unconscious outside her convent room with a dead newborn placed in the wastebasket. Is Agnes guilty of the child's murder and who could be the father? Agnes has no recollection of the event at the play's beginning, and reconciling her innocence to her supposed guilt constructs the fabric of the play.

While the convent's Mother Superior tries to coerce the court psychiatrist into making a speedy decision so Agnes can somehow return to convent life, Mother Superior also believes Agnes' angelic voice can be tied to some sort of divine miracle. The court appointed psychiatrist, Martha Livingstone, attempts to determine Agnes' mental stability, and in the process examines her own faith lost growing up with a horrendous childhood, including losing her sister.

In Pielmeier's play, where mystery combines with philosophical and psychological drama, consummate Director Suzan Fete visualizes a production rich in humor and tender humanity, attentive to every detail. Anthony Lyons bisects the set design diagonally in black and white so the three characters often appear in shadows created by Alan Piotrowicz's lighting design--a stark metaphor for the blur between the black and white facts in this case, and in each of the women's lives that turns the supposed black and white truths to gray areas of plausibility or possibility.

Rána Roman's incredible presence gifts Agnes a palpable innocence so the audience believes the impossible or unimaginable, the virgin birth of a baby. Her miraculous voice experienced during the production, sung in Latin, sends chills through the theater as if a voice from heaven. Roman's naive persona set against Laura Gordon's determined although eventually concerned Dr. Lvingstone, transforms into a warm bond, expertly crafted by Gordon's vivid portrayal of a person changed from confirmed atheist to reluctant believer. Flora Coker's compassionate Mother Superior stands firmly between these two forces, fighting for Agnes's innocence and spiritual glory, challenging the psychiatrist's efforts to discover the truth--and what the truth may destroy in these three women's lives after a decision is made.

Interspersed between the main theme, Agnes, Livingstone, and Mother Superior wrestle with God, the heavens, and the mothers they were given and grew up with. These Mother-Daughter relationships weave twisted threads throughout the play, much as Mother Superior claims God has tied a thread to Agnes' soul. The audience never discovers who the father is or the sex of the child and Fete caps the performance with a powerful ending, played perfectly by Roman, which catapults the audience into the realms of their own beliefs, faith and imagination, although Roman's voice lingers long after the evening, along with the music directed by Jill Anna Ponasik.

if anyone knew the miracles that happened behind this scenes in this particular production, to bring this play to life on stage (and ultimately most production), audiences would continually be amazed how art, faith and hope survive, much less thrive..Three accomplished, dedicated actors along with a gifted technical staff and visionary director prove every artistic creation constitutes a new birth, a tiny miracle of what theater can achieve, which RTW continually gives to the city with concerted excellence. Be sure to see this thought provoking play, and contemplate the miracles in today's world, of which being imperfectly human while sparking a touch of the divine, much like the three women in this play searching for God and a bit of heaven on earth, is only one tiny miracle to be appreciated.

Renaissance Theaterworks presents Agnes of God in the Studio Theater at the Broadway Theatre Center through February 14. For further information, special information, or tickets, please call: 414.273.0800 or www.r-t-w.com.

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